NAGOYA, Japan, September 28, 2000 - Signaling strong business growth in Japan, Asyst Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq NM: ASYT), the world's largest semiconductor fab automation company, today announced it has received $50 million in new orders from leading Japanese chip and equipment manufacturers since April 1, 2000, the beginning of the company's current fiscal year.

With these orders, Asyst is on track to surpass its goal of reaching over $100 million in total sales from Japan for the current fiscal year, further strengthening its position as the leading U.S.-based automation solutions supplier to the Japanese semiconductor market. In the previous fiscal year, sales from Japan totaled $30.7 million. Asyst believes its growing market share position in Japan reflects an increasing number of customers who prefer Asyst's solutions for their proven performance and interoperability, as well as the company's superior service and support. Asyst has customers in the Kansai, Oita, Nagasaki and Yokahama regions that produce large memory chips as well as major logic producers serving the telecommunications, consumer electronics and entertainment industries.

According to GartnerGroup's Dataquest, Japan is the world's second largest producer of semiconductors in an overall global IC market estimated to be $222 billion for the year 2000. Japan is also second in the world's production of semiconductor capital equipment in a global market estimated to be greater than $30 billion in 2000.

"Japan accounted for 26 percent of the worldwide IC market in 1999 and has been a leader in fab automation products. We see this region as a vital growth opportunity," said Mihir Parikh, Asyst chairman and chief executive officer. "We are extremely pleased with Asyst's escalating performance and presence in the Japanese market over the past six months. We look forward to working with our customers in this important region so that we can continue to help them realize the highest value possible within their fabs."

To honor Asyst's growing importance to the Japanese market, leading executives and dignitaries, including Mr. Thomas Foley, the United States' Ambassador to Japan; Mr. Taizo Nishimuro, chairman, Toshiba Corporation; and Mr. Shoichiro Yoshida, president, Nikon Corporation, attended a reception on Wednesday evening at Tokyo's Hotel Okura. As part of the event, these leaders participated in an Asyst-sponsored forum on 300mm semiconductor manufacturing and automation.

Asyst also announced consolidation of its operations with those of MECS, a company acquired by Asyst last March, further solidifying its commitment to the Japanese semiconductor automation market. "Our new centralized operations will allow us to meet the needs of our Japanese OEM and end-user customers most cost effectively," said Josui "Joe" Nashimoto, president, Asyst Japan, Inc. "We are committed to service the full range of opportunities in the semiconductor automation market with a dedicated Asyst facility. We believe existing and potential customers are both showing strong interest in how our leading 200mm standard mechanical interface (SMIF) and 300mm front-opening unified pod (FOUP)-based technologies can further their fab automation needs," Nashimoto concluded.

Except for statements of historical fact, the statements in this press release are forward-looking. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These factors include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, semiconductor industry cycles, risks associated with the acceptance of new products and product capabilities and other factors more fully detailed in the Company's recent 10Q quarterly report on file with the Securities Exchange Commission.

About Asyst:
Asyst Technologies, Inc. is the leading provider of manufacturing automation systems that enable semiconductor makers to protect their valued assets throughout the manufacturing process while increasing manufacturing productivity. Asyst offers a broad range of 200mm and 300mm products that enable the Company to provide semiconductor manufacturers and OEMs automated manufacturing solutions for the transfer of wafers and information between the process equipment and the fab line.